Wednesday, June 29, 2016

Family Bible Storytelling Media Blog: One Year Later




Blogging is a like a second job and after researching some ministries and resources on using time wisely, I hope to upload more content on a regular basis for Year Two. I also hope to upload a new post to this blog every Wednesday for the rest of 2016.

In addition to these posts I also wish to expand the listings on historic radio and television ministerial drams from the past found at the top of this website.

There will be more to come with radio dramas, film clips and links to some of the best Christian programming from the past and present.

- James R. Stewart Jr.

Monday, June 6, 2016

For D-Day Anniversary - The Light of The World" - June 6th, 1944

The Light of The World - daytime/soap opera (March 18, 1940 - March 2, 1950, NBC, CBS). Sponsored by General Mills.

Yes, in a decade where over 40 soaps operas could air in a single week, there was one based on the Bible! It was a hit with audiences and clergy during its run and adapted mostly stories from the Old Testament. Sadly like most daytime dramas, surviving episodes are very scarce. My research suggests that at least 7 episodes exist in various archives and collections. LOTW was one of several shows from Frank and Anne Hummert, of the Hummert Factory of daytime dramas.

Other dramatizations of the Bible were attempted with some success before television. There were the programs Bible Dramas (NBC, 1928) Immortal Dramas (1935, sponsored by Montgomery Ward), and more famously The Greatest Story Ever Told (ABC radio, 1947 - 1956, ABC television 1951 - 1952).

This special V-E Day episode (6/6/1944) is enjoyable and hopefully will give you the modern lesson insight into that date. Please forgive the sound quality, the audio is from a very compressed MP3 file.



The Light Of The World. June 6, 1944. CBS net. Sponsored by: General Mills.
Ted Campbell (announcer), Robert Trout (news bulletin), Frank Hummert (creator), Anne Hummert (creator)
The commercials have been suspended because of D-Day. The story of the Bible continues. Genesis 22:1, 2, 3. Abraham's sacrifice of Isaac, Moses and the Burning Bush, the 23rd Psalm.

(Above citation is from the RadioGOLDINdex)

For more about this series:
Don't Touch That Dial!: Radio Programming in American Life, 1920-1960: Soap Operas Go To War
http://jfredmacdonald.com/war.htm  - Page includes a link to an undated episode beginning the story of King David and Saul.

Dunning, John. 1998. On the air: the encyclopedia of old-time radio. New York: Oxford University Press.